Like Glass
by ItsWhatevs
Summary: An infinitesimal slip is all it takes. In his dying breath, the Yondaime got one stroke of Naruto's seal wrong. Just a hair off. But that's all it takes. Although, no one could have ever known how big an impact it would have. *In Progress*
1. Broken

**AN: Hey! I haven't updated in a bit, hopefully I can get back into rhythm. Anyways here's my first actual fanfic, not a crackfic like Jiraiya's Scheme. I'll update that eventually... But this will be one of those 'Broken Naruto' kinda stories. The main reason I wanted to do this is that I've read a few of these and they sucked. I just think that if you're mind was _shattered_ you wouldn't be smiling, cracking jokes, and fooling around. So in this, Naruto will be _almost _completely indifferent. And this won't be 'Savior Girl comes to heal Naruto's mind, body, and soul' kinda bullshit. I wouldn't say this is a dark fic, but definitely not bright. I'm not quite sure of the pairing, but if there is any, it won't be for a while. Besides that, I'll try to keep everyone (except Naruto, obviously) as little OOC as I can. I think that's about it for now so,  
**

**Ja ne!**

**Dialogue:**

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

_**This is reversed in furasshubakku...**_

_"There's no plural in Romaji!"_

**On with the story,**

* * *

**Chapter One: **_Broken_

The sound of plastic against metal drew everyone's gaze to the sliding door at the far corner of the classroom. The class quieted down as they saw their teacher step into the room before turning his gaze to the open door. All of the kids' curiosity was piqued as a small boy slowly walked to the side of the teacher. The most noticeable thing was his spiky, blonde hair. The brilliant, golden locks jutted out at various angles with two bangs looming over the outsides of his eyes. His eyes. They were a bright, shiny blue with small, black pupils. But they were dead, unfocused. His eyes took in everything but saw nothing. Underneath each eye were three brown-grey lines that went horizontally from his cheek bone to his jaw bone. Just above his pointed chin was a pair of pale pink lips that were set in a line. Not a smile, not a frown. He didn't have a facial expression at all. Around his neck rested a necklace of black and white beads. It was a simple peace of jewelry, comprised of thick, circular beads that alternated. Ten black beads on one end followed by six white beads then three black beads, repeating all the way to the other end where there were ten more black beads. The necklace lay just before his defined collar bone. On his torso was a low, crew cut mesh tee that left much of his slightly defined chest and abs visible. Over the mesh he wore a black and white plaid flannel shirt. Only the two buttons above the bottom button were closed. His lengthy legs were covered by a pair of jeans. They were black and made from a cotton-synthetic material. The jeans were completely without pockets, made up for by the small pouch that was fastened to his right thigh. The pant legs were tightly secured to his shins with white tape. On his feet were a pair of black ninja sandals. The teacher's voice suddenly broke them from their study.

"This is Uzumaki N-Naruto and I'd like for you t-to give him a warm welcome to our class."

None of the students noticed their teacher's stuttering. The dead look in Naruto's eyes really unnerved him.

"Naruto, if you would, you may s-sit by Ino."

Naruto's eyes slowly scanned the room until he noticed a blonde haired girl eagerly raising her hand and grinning. He slowly walked over and sat at the end of the three-seated desk. Ino was to his immediate left and a large boy with red swirls on his cheeks was noisily munching on something to Ino's left. He didn't spare either of them a second glance as he slowly looked forward and patiently awaited to beginning of the lesson. Their teacher gave a slight cough as he sat at his desk before telling everyone to grab a textbook.

* * *

_Time Skip: 2 Years - Graduation Day...  
_

Most of the students were anxious to begin team placement as they chatted noisily, speculating who would be on the same team. Only nine kids had passed the academy out of the original twenty-one. Iruka was sitting at his desk, surveying the classroom until his eyes landed on a pair of dead blue ones. His stomach twisted and turned as Naruto continued to stare. It was obvious that Naruto wasn't looking at Iruka. He wasn't _looking_ at anything. His eyes were simply open. Everything about Naruto made Iruka feel uneasy. Naruto had scored almost perfectly average marks throughout his two years in the academy. He'd never said a word to anyone, let alone interact. Iruka cleared his throat before standing up from his chair.

"Alright class, listen up. I'm proud of all of you for making this far, but life as a ninja will only be harder from here on out. I wish you all good luck in your ninja careers! Now, I'll announce the teams."

The class became silent as they listened for their names.

"Team's one through six are still in circulation. Team Seven will be Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruto."

Sakura was cheering that she got 'the two hotties' as Ino pouted that she wouldn't be on Naruto's team. Sasuke was intensely staring at Naruto's emotionless face.

"Team Eight will be Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuuga Hinata, and Aburame Shino."

Kiba looked over his teammates and shrugged. '_Could have been worse..._' he thought glancing over to Naruto. Shino nodded to Kiba and Hinata before once again looking forward. Hinata nervously poked her fingers together as she looked between Kiba and Shino. Silently grateful she was paired with her friends, she blushed as she looked to the front of the room at Naruto.

"Team Nine is still in circulation. Team Ten will be Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, and Akamichi Chouji."

Shikamaru and Chouji were sleeping and eating respectively as Ino groaned at having the laziest two people of the class.

"You can all wait here for your sensei to arrive. Once again, I'd like to wish you all good luck and fare well!"

Iruka disappeared in a swoosh of leaves. Almost as soon as the leaves from Iruka's Shunshin hit the floor, more leaves appeared in the air along with a beautiful woman. (AN: Just wanna say, I'll only ever describe Naruto's clothes, everyone else will be wearing canon outfits. So Google search them or whatever if you don't know how they look.) "Team Eight, come with me." Kiba ogled his new sensei as he and his teammates followed her out the door.

It was obvious that woman was the most punctual of the three sensei, because it was ten minutes later before the next one arrived. There was now a small pile of leaves on the floor as another person appeared via Shunshin. A gruff looking man with spiky hair held up by his head band and a beard pulled out a cigarette before heading towards the door. "Come on Team Ten, you guys are with me." Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji all groaned for different reasons as they followed the man out the door, which Chouji closed behind them. After it was just Team Seven left, time slowly ticked by. Sakura was too busy fangirling over her two teammates to notice her sensei's apparent tardiness. Sasuke continued to stare hard at Naruto, but eventually grew annoyed with waiting and began pacing around the room slowly. And of course Naruto had not moved since morning when he had sat down in class.

It was two hours later the sliding door opened and a man with gravity-defying silver hair poked his head in. His only visible eye - the right one - crinkled into what Sakura and Sasuke assumed was a smile. "My first impression of you guys is..." Kakashi trailed off as he locked gazes with Naruto. "Well, let's save that for later. Follow me up to the roof."

* * *

Kakashi eyed Naruto as he leaned on the railing. Naruto sat with his legs crossed as he looked- _faced _Kakashi reminded himself_ -_over the railing at Konohagakure. Kakashi knew almost everything about Naruto. When Naruto was still just a newborn, the Kyuubi no Yoko had lashed out against the seal in a fit of rage. There were no obvious effects, but as Naruto grew up it became _painfully_ obvious. As a baby Naruto was utterly silent. He never cried and technically, still had yet to say his first word. Naruto was kicked out of the orphanage at age three, where on his first night living on the street he was tortured by a couple of drunk chuunin. Naruto was hung upside down by his ankles as he was slowly stabbed with rusty kunai. After growing bored of their 'demon torture' they dumped numerous bottles of saki on Naruto and lit him with a match. Throughout all of it Naruto never made a single noise. Even as he could feel his eyeballs melting in their sockets, he faced forward and patiently waited for someone to untie him. If that was now or in a couple years, it wouldn't have made a difference to Naruto. After that, Kakashi had been assigned as Naruto's anbu guard. Naruto had practically lived his entire life from there in an ally way next to a ramen shop. He would only eat when his stomach loudly gurgled from lack of food. That was the only way Naruto could tell he was hungry. He didn't know the _feeling _of hunger. For a long time he survived on scraps of food from the dumpster he sat across from. As Inu, Kakashi occasionally took Naruto to the hot springs for a bath. Eventually, at age nine, the Sandaime had Naruto begin training to become a ninja. He learned the basics of the core arts, Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, and Genjutsu. He learned from Gai, Kakashi, and Kurenai respectively. After a month under each teacher, Naruto spent nine months training himself. When the Hokage sent Kakashi to get Naruto and enroll him into the academy, they realized letting him train himself was a bad idea. Naruto had gone from a civilian to a C-ranked nin in that time, but that was good. The bad thing was Naruto's training habits. He would take a break to eat only once every three days and the only sleep he got was the unconsciousness that came with chakra exhaustion. Once Naruto was enrolled in the academy he had to be provided regular meals and told when to sleep, in order to get back to full health. Kakashi had requested Naruto for his team because he felt responsible to train his sensei's son. And so here he was, staring at the all but dead face of Naruto.

"Okay, so to begin, why don't we start with our name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams for the future." Kakashi said, not taking away his gaze from Naruto's face.

"Why don't you go first sensei, show us how it's done."

Kakashi inwardly groaned. He could already tell she would be the weak link in this team. _If he passed them_. "Okay. My name is Hatake Kakashi. I don't feel like telling you my likes and dislikes. I don't have any hobbies, and dreams... I never really thought about it." Sasuke's lips twitched in amusement as Sakura glared at Kakashi for the vague answers. "Now you go." Kakashi pointed to Sakura.

"My name is Haruno Sakura. I like Sasuke-kun and Naruto-kun! I dislike Ino-buta! My hobbies... my dreams..." Sakura blushed and giggled at the end as she glanced between the two boys on either side of her. Sasuke took the initiative and went next.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I like tomatoes and dislike a lot of things. I don't have any petty hobbies and my dream... is more of an ambition. That is... to kill a certain man." Sasuke said this while staring at Naruto. Sakura was squealing at his 'coolness'. Knowing that, if left alone, Naruto would just sit there until he died, Kakashi spoke up. "You're next, Naruto."

Naruto opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. He had never spoken in his twelve years and his vocal chords were terribly out of use. Naruto strained his throat harder and was able to produce a soft 'ah' noise. He blinked at his own voice and Kakashi cringed at that. A twelve year hearing his own voice for the first time.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto's voice was slow and smooth despite years of disuse, and it sent shivers down Sakura's spine. _Good_ shivers. Kakashi smiled at Naruto. He was glad Naruto's voice wasn't horribly scratchy or something of the like. "Well, now that introductions are over, I'll tell you about your first mission. Tomorrow, we will begin survival training. Meet at Training Ground Three tomorrow morning at nine sharp. Don't be late. Oh and don't eat breakfast, you'll just throw it up." Kakashi disappeared with a wave. Sasuke got up and slowly walked away with Sakura pestering him for a date.

Naruto walked to the railing and laid beside it. He took off his necklace and slowly played with it in his hands as looked at it with his dead, dead eyes.

* * *

**AN: How was that? First chapter is kinda short but don't worry the chapters _will_ get longer, that just seemed like a really good place to end. So yea, I plan on this bein' a really long kinda story maybe sorta kinda I don't know... Next chapter is gonna have the Wave arc. Well lemme know whatcha think, review and shit. Also lemme know if you want Naruto to have a harem (3+), two women, or one woman. I'll count votes until like chapter five maybe. Next chapter I'll start leaving a section at the end of the story detailing Naruto's skill. Anyways, until next time,  
**

**Ja!**


	2. Team Seven

**AN: So, school started two days ago. Because of that, I'll probably update this story once maybe twice a week. Definitely on the weekends and if I can ever find any spare time. Anyways this chapter was supposed to primarily be about the Wave arc, but fucking school made me cut this chapter short. Also I wanna mention that there will be bigger power gaps in this story. For example, in canon a Sannin level nin can put up a good fight for a Kage level nin, but in this fic a Sannin level nin would just be a healthy work out for a Kage level nin. Also, everything in this fic (ex. nin, jutsu, skills, etc.) is going to be ranked on a scale of D- to SSS++. To put that into perspective, the average Kage is an SS+ ranked nin, and the Sannin are all S ranked. Well, that's all for now,**

**Ja ne!**

**Review(s):**

**Grenos: Mach dir keine Sorgen, ich kann Ihr Englisch feinen lesen :). Ich hoffe, Sie verstehen können, obwohl, oder ich wie ein Esel aussehen :p. Dies ist nicht eine romanische Geschichte, so dass nicht für eine Weile sein. Andere als die, Dank für die Überprüfung und bleiben Sie dran! :)**

**Dialogue:**

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

**_This is reversed in furasshubakku..._**

_"Why dost thou not__ review?!" _

**On with the story,**

* * *

**Chapter Two: **_Team Seven_

Naruto put his necklace back on as he slowly sat up. He had laid next to the railing sundown to sunup. Getting to his feet, Naruto slowly scanned the village. He didn't know the exact time, but it was obviously not nine yet as the sun had only just become visible an hour ago. Naruto climbed over the railing and dropped down onto the dirt street below before slowly walking down towards his 'home'. As he walked he was greeted with many stares. Many of the people of Konoha were fond of Naruto and pitied him. Almost all the of the older residents of Konoha used to believe Naruto was Kyuubi's reincarnation. After getting to know him, if only a little, they knew there was no way in the nine circles of Hell that Naruto was any such thing. He was extraordinarily silent and surprisingly obedient, as if he didn't have a will of his own. Everyone watching cringed as Naruto approached a small ally with a dumpster on one side. Before Naruto had begun training, he'd spent almost every minute of his life in that ally. He could usually be found sitting against the wall across from the dumpster, playing with his necklace in his hands for hours on end, or slowly rummaging through the dumpster, looking for something to quiet his stomach's groans.

Naruto stopped in front of the ally and slowly looked side to side before turning around and walking to the ramen shop that was across the street. Kakashi had treated him there a few times, so he was kind of familiar with the place. He walked through the flaps and stood by the counter. The waitress, Ayame, was standing in front of a pot of boiling noodles and he could hear Teuchi slicing up meat in the back. Realizing Ayame was busy, Naruto took a seat on the stool at the right end of the row. He decided to wait until they were done preparing the shop for business to say anything. Talking... it felt so odd and foreign, but he couldn't deny how much easier it made communicating with people.

Ayame let out a small gasp as she turned and noticed Naruto sitting in one of the stools. He slowly looked up from the counter and they locked eyes for a moment and she had to look away. He looked every bit alive as her mother's corpse had on her deathbed. "Erm... the shop d-doesn't open for another hour or so, but if your really that hungry..." Ayame looked back at him to see his answer, but felt her jaw hang as he actually responded with _words_. "I need... directions." The words came out slowly and Ayame stared at Naruto for a few moments before nervously shifting to her other foot. "Yeah..." was all she could croak out as Naruto continued to look - face - her. Naruto rarely looked at anything, he just gazed in their general direction. "Where is Training Ground Three?" Ayame gulped as she shifted again. How would she know of any Training Grounds? She found it hard to think with Naruto's eyes looking straight through. After a few very long seconds, Ayame shifted once again. She remembered, she had picnicked at that particular grounds with a group of girls from her class back before she had to drop out of the academy in order to help her father with his business. "U-um... go to the b-back of the academ-my and keep g-going until you reach a-a... an open field..." Ayame blushed terribly as Naruto gave a slow nod. She hadn't stuttered that badly since the first day in the academy. She gave a sigh of relief as Naruto turned and began to walk away slowly, like he didn't have somewhere to be.

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura arrived at Training Ground Three to see Naruto leaning against an upright log. His eyes were focused on the necklace dangling between his fingers as he slowly moved them. Brushing off another date offer from Sakura, Sasuke walked up to Naruto. "What are you doing?" Naruto didn't look away from his hands as he responded. "Waiting..." Sasuke scoffed at his answer and walked over to a tree and sat down to glare at Naruto. Sakura excitedly glanced between her two teammates, unable to decide who to sit next to. Eventually, she opted to plop down where she was and continue to look between her two crushes.

It was almost three hours later that Kakashi arrived, reading an orange book. "Good morning!" When no one responded, Kakashi looked at his three charges. Sakura was every so often switching her gaze between her teammates while she quietly giggled. Kakashi hated fangirls... Sasuke was glaring heatedly at Naruto's face, brooding. And Naruto was lying on his back, looking up and not blinking at all. Kakashi took out a pair of bells and jingled them a few times causing all three kids to look. "Now that I have your attention, we can begin the survival test. These bells will be fastened to my person with string. You need to get them from me. Anyone who doesn't get a bell, will be sent back to the academy. Any questions?" Seeing Sasuke shake his head and Naruto remain silent, Sakura shook her head as well. "Then, hajime!"

Sasuke and Sakura darted off to the sides of the clearing while Naruto remained. Kakashi looked over at him as he slowly stood up, clipping on his necklace that had been lying on his chest. He slowly walked up to Kakashi and reached out to grab the bells. Kakashi batted his hand away as he leaned in close to Naruto. "You'll need to come at me with the intent to kill." Naruto suddenly reappeared behind Kakashi with a kunai in his right hand and the bells in his left. Kakashi turned his head around to smile at Naruto. "Good." From the sidelines, Sasuke's and Sakura's eyes widened as Kakashi and the bells in Naruto's hand turned into puffs of smoke. '_So fast..._'

Sasuke and Sakura had a hard time following the battle with their eyes. It was just two blurs dancing in the clearing, the only audible noise being the clangs of kunai. After a few minutes the two nin appeared in the middle of the clearing, kunai locked. Kakashi effortlessly pushed Naruto back with the kunai in his right hand, his left hand still holding up the Icha Icha book he was reading. Naruto back flipped and closed his eyes. The clearing filled with copies of him, all of which were rapidly flickering. Kakashi's eye widened and he pocketed his book as the copies all sprinted at him. He almost flinched as a kunai went straight through him. '_Regular Bunshin._' He flicked his left arm out and heard a clang of metal. '_Kage Bunshin._' Kakashi ducked under a kunai thrust from a clone, unsure if it was an illusion or not when he was launched forward from a firm kick to his back. He rolled out of the way as a clone stabbed the ground he was lying on. Jumping to his feet, Kakashi was unable to avoid a kunai to his throat, but almost breathed a sigh of relief as it passed right through him. He needed to get out of the clearing quickly. Kakashi had been on the receiving end of this tactic before and was embarrassed to say that, without using his Sharingan, he lost to it every time. Naruto's chakra control wasn't anything special, but when he learned a jutsu, he didn't stop until he had at least a B-rank mastery of it. What he was doing now was a nearly unbeatable technique, unless the person on the receiving end had some sort of visual prowess. Naruto had created upward of a hundred clones, ninety percent illusions, the rest actual copies of himself. With his insane mastery over the Kawarimi jutsu, Naruto was constantly substituting himself with his Bunshin, his Bunshin with his Kage Bunshin, his Kage Bunshin with himself. It was nearly impossible for Kakashi to tell what he was fighting at any given moment, and he definitely could not put down his guard to reveal his Sharingan. Naruto was an ideal shinobi. Emotionless. If Kakashi made one little mistake, he would have a one in three chance to live; he'd be attacked by a harmless Bunshin, a Kage Bunshin, or Naruto himself. The second two could and would kill him. Kakashi continued to dodge the attacks of the clones as he stepped on his left sandal with his right and pulled his left foot up a bit, loosening the sandal. As he felt the tip of a kunai begin to bite into the skin on his back, he kicked his left foot up hard, sending his loosened sandal flying almost sixty feet in the air. Kakashi felt warm blood flow down his back as he used Kawarimi with the sandal, leaving it impaled on the bloody kunai and Kakashi flying high in the air. Kakashi looked straight ahead before paling. It felt like slow motion as he saw a small piece of cloth fluttering in the air. To most, it would be an insignificant detail in this battle, but Kakashi knew Naruto. Naruto could use Kawarimi with nearly _anything_. Kakashi was helpless as the real Naruto appeared in front of him and swiped the bells. Naruto and Kakashi were suddenly replaced with clones that promptly disappeared, leaving them safely on the ground. That was another thing. Naruto was the only person who Kakashi had ever even heard of, that was capable of using Kawarimi on people _other _than himself. Naruto hadn't completely mastered the Kawarimi, Kakashi wasn't sure if there was such a thing as complete mastery over a technique, but Naruto was certainly the damn best with that jutsu that he'd ever seen.

As Kakashi caught his breath, Naruto slowly walked over to his two teammates. They appeared out of a bush and jogged up to Naruto, who handed them a bell each. Sasuke and Sakura looked like fish out of water as Kakashi came up to them an put a hand on their shoulders. '_I guess... technically, that counts as teamwork, but... ah, fuck it._' "You pass!" Kakashi cheered jovially. Sasuke and Sakura just turned to him with their gaping mouths and unsuccessfully tried to form words. "Ah, well... this was really a test to see if you guys are cut out to be Genin. My test particularly... is to test teamwork." Kakashi stated before rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Now, you guys didn't really do anything as a team... but for the good of the team and the mission... Naruto sacrificed himself... and that, uh... mm..." Kakashi trailed off as he scratched the top of his head. "Always remember, those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their teammates, are worse than trash." Naruto's eyes widened largely, unnoticed by his teammates. Kakashi though, almost choked on his own spit. That was the first time he had seen any kind of expression on Naruto's face. Surprise... it wasn't exactly an emotion, but it was something. Kakashi wasn't really surprised though. Naruto had always followed orders above all else. Kakashi couldn't tell them the only reason they were passing was because he had a soft spot for Naruto. Soft spot... it was more like a liquid spot. If Naruto up and murdered the Hokage, Kakashi would help Naruto cover it up.

"Well, you guys go home to get some rest..." Kakashi stopped as he looked at his three students, two of which were staring at him incredulously. Sasuke and Sakura had done nothing and Naruto was a fucking tank in terms of chakra and physical stamina. "Erm, well, how about we go get our first mission, ne?"

* * *

The Hokage rubbed his temples and gave a deep sigh as he eyeballed the blonde twelve year old standing in front of his desk. "Listen Naruto-kun, it is highly unorthodox for any team to do anything but D-ranks for at least a month." Hiruzen repeated. Naruto blinked as he also repeated himself. "I would like to request a C-rank mission, Hokage-sama." It had only been a day, but Naruto was talking more naturally now, with less pauses. He still spoke a bit slowly, but that was just Naruto. Unless he was given an order with a time-table, he took his time with everything that he did.

Hiruzen puffed out a bit of smoke as he leaned back in his chair. After giving Naruto a hard stare for a few seconds, he smirked. "All right... I've got a C-rank mission available, but it won't start for at least another two days." Everyone in the room, sans Naruto and Hiruzen, had their eyes wide and mouths agape. The _Kami no Shinobi_, _The Sandaime Hokage_, had just given into a _Genin_. The Hokage had just given a fresh-out-of-the-academy Genin team the go-ahead to accept a C-rank mission because a Genin and simply asked for it.

The aged Kage smiled and he placed his pipe back between his lips as Iruka sputtered incoherently next to him. "Meeting adjourned."

* * *

_Two Days Later.._

The two days had gone by incredibly quickly. Kakashi had the three Genin train profusely in the concept of teamwork, and he had to say, he was impressed with their progression. They had a general understanding of each others battle, tactical, and support capabilities as well as an establishment of team roles. Though it greatly irked Sasuke, Naruto was decidedly the teams primary fighter. Sasuke was also a good fighter, better than Naruto actually, but Naruto's ability to overwhelm his enemies made him a superior asset in battle. Sakura was... useless, if they were being honest with themselves. But she was quite intelligent and worked well in tandem with her teammates.

Team Seven waited at the main gate of Konoha as they saw the figure of a man approaching. When he reached the booth Izumo and Kotetsu were stationed in, the team walked up to him and Sakura grabbed one of his arms. The team began walking down the road. Kakashi headed the formation with Naruto directly behind him, Sasuke behind the group, and the man, Tazuna, inbetween Naruto and Sasuke. Sakura walked with Tazuna, explaining that they were the team that would be protecting him as the team disappeared down the road.

* * *

**AN: Sorry it's very late, and not as long as I intended. Hopefully it was good though, and I think it sets up the next chapter nicely. Schools a bitch, so I haven't had that much time to write, but the next chap will be out sometime between now and next Sunday. Lemme know how it was; great, shitty, gimme your thoughts on the story. Didn't get to the Wave Arc like I'd hoped, but I wanted to get something out now rather than later. The skill section for Naruto will begin _next_ chapter. Anyways sorry for this, hopefully it won't happen again, and for now,  
**

**Ja!**


	3. Power: Part I of II

**AN: I'm back! Chapters are starting to get longer :). This chapter will be about Wave and there'll be a section at the end of the chapter for Naruto's and any other pertinent persons' skill levels and shit. Starting to write both Dexter and The Last of Us fanfics. I guess that's all for now so,  
**

**Ja ne!**

**Review(s):**

**Guest: Thanks! Don't worry, it's not going to be like women falling love with Naruto left and right or anything like that. I'll keep it realistic, harem or not, but this story won't really be focused on romance anyways. Thanks for reviewing! :)**

**Dialogue:**

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

**_This is reversed in furasshubakku_**

_"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind... only it doesn't."  
_

* * *

**Chapter Three: **_Power: Part I/II  
_

Tazuna and his escort were walking toward Wave Country at a leisurely pace. Sasuke's excitement to have a mission outside of the village was only visible through the small smirk on his face. Sakura was annoying Tazuna and anyone else who could hear her with questions that, if she gave them a bit of thought, she should already know the answer to. Kakashi read his smut while he kept aware of his surroundings, though he wasn't too worried as it was only a C-rank mission. Completely unlike himself, Naruto was observing his surroundings and not letting any detail escape him.

That included the pitiful attempt at Genjutsu that was in the form of a puddle in the middle of the road. The rest of the group stopped as Naruto squatted down in front of the puddle and tilted his head to the side.

"Come out."

Sasuke, Sakura, and Tazuna, looked at Naruto oddly as nothing happened. Kakashi slightly smiled to himself, proud of Naruto's ability to detect the illusion. After a couple seconds of utter silence, the water from the puddle slowly rose into the air before forming into two human figures. Before anything could be said or done, Kakashi was wrapped up in chains and promptly turned into a small pile of strips of human flesh and cloth. "One down..." one of the men said while pulling his chain back. Naruto stood up and opened his mouth to say something, but closed it and tilted his head as he made a half ram seal with his left hand and fished out a kunai with his right. "...four to go!" the two nin yelled simultaneously as they launched their chains at Sakura. Ten copies of Naruto appeared and rushed the two rogue nin while Naruto batted the chains away from Sakura with a kunai. Gōzu rose an eyebrow and grinned as he flicked a chain at one of the copies in the air, but blinked when the chain when straight through. "Not even Kage Bunshin? This will be even easier than expected!" he laughed as he tugged his chain back. Gōzu continued to grin up at the clone falling towards him even as it drew back its kunai. Meizu turned away from Naruto, who was walking towards him, and his eyes widened. Gōzu was face-up in a pool of his own blood with a clone standing over him. "Th-that's not... possible..." Meizu turned to look at Naruto who was now standing directly in front of him. He opened his mouth to speak, but Naruto drove his kunai into his throat. Naruto's head tilted to the side as he watched the blood flow from the gaping mouth of the man, run down his kunai, and onto his hand. He followed it with his eyes as it slowly trailed down his wrist before forming a drop and falling into the dirt. Naruto looked up, into the eyes of Meizu. His eyes were as dead as Naruto's own. As Naruto tugged his kunai out of Meizu's still standing corpse, he watched the body fall to the ground. He looked over to the dead body of Gōzu lying in a pool of blood. Naruto's eyes widened as he felt something strange. He brought his hand up to his face. He was... smiling. Naruto decidedly enjoyed the experience of taking another's life.

Kakashi grimaced from his place in the bushes. Sasuke and Sakura were pale white as they continued to give Naruto a wide-eyed stare. They had just seen Kakashi 'die', Naruto passively kill two nin who were probably vastly more skilled than himself, and it appeared Naruto enjoyed it.

Sakura trembled as she watched Naruto slowly wipe the blood off of the kunai on the shirt of one of the corpses. "Y-you're... gonna ke-keep it?"

Naruto looked up at her with wide eyes and grinned slightly. "No use wasting kunai."

* * *

_The Unfinished Bridge - 2 Hours later...  
_

Tazuna and the team were silent as they sat on the boat, slowly floating towards the shoreline across the strait. After questioning Tazuna about the nin that were after him, Kakashi and his team had decided to keep with the mission despite the fact that it was now at least a B+ rank. The walk had been quiet with everyone besides Kakashi keeping their distance from Naruto. Naruto had held the same kunai for the whole walk, and began polishing it with a rag he found on the boat. Kakashi read his smut, occasionally glancing at Naruto. While he would admit that Naruto's performance was a bit... excessive, he was proud of him. Naruto had spotted a C++ rank Genjutsu and was able to dispatch two B+ ranked rogue nin, The Akuma no Kyōdai. Sakura was staring worriedly at Naruto. Sasuke had gotten over what happened pretty quickly. Although it was unsettling to witness someone kill two humans so passively, it was not his first time seeing such a thing...

The ferryman used his paddle to bring the small dingy to a stop before they reached the shore. He nodded at Tazuna as he and the team got out of the boat and walked the rest of the way on the surface of the water, Tazuna being carried over Kakashi's shoulder like a sack of potatoes while Kakashi continued to read Icha Icha.

The group walked up onto the shore and began trekking down a dirt path. As they passed a bush Naruto jumped ahead of the group and flicked a kunai into it, startling everyone but Kakashi. "Kami, Naruto! What the hell are you doing, you scared me!" Sakura yelled angrily. Naruto ignored her as he walked up to the bush and squatted down. He slowly pulled up a dead rabbit, holding it up by the handle of the kunai that was lodged into it's head. Tazuna found himself swallowing a lump in his throat as he nervously eyed Naruto. '_Kid's a damn sharpshooter!_' Everyone's attention suddenly was drawn to a faint buzzing sound. "Get down!" Kakashi screamed as the noise rapidly became louder. He shoved Sakura to the ground before tackling Tazuna. Naruto and Sasuke were already flat against the ground. Everyone looked up as a loud crack resounded from a nearby tree. A zanbato was stuck in the tree and had a man standing upon its handle.

"Sharingan no Kakashi... no wonder the Demon Brothers failed." The man's voice had a smooth raspy-ness to it. Kakashi's jaw tightened and he lifted his head band but before he could even open his mouth to say anything he saw Naruto appear on the handle next to the man. Kakashi's eyes widened as Naruto's fist buried itself in the man's gut, sending him reeling at least a hundred feet. The man materialized behind Naruto and sent him back to the ground with a swift kick. "You're faster than I would have expected, runt." he growled. Kakashi kept his eyes on the tree as he spoke to his team. "That's Momochi Zabuza, Demon of the Hidden Mist. He's an A-ranked nin, Sasuke, Sakura, so leave this to me. Naruto... I don't want to say this but... I might need your help with this. Just don't do anything reckless."

Zabuza gave a loud bark of a laugh as he jumped down, pulling his zanbato with him. "Kakashi... that gaki will only obscure you." Sasuke narrowed his eyes as mist started to appear. '_No way in hell am I just going to sit back while someone fights for me._' Sasuke slipped a kunai from his pouch and waited for Zabuza to appear as the mist got thicker. It was tense as nothing moved and there was dead silence. Kakashi and Naruto suddenly appeared in front of Tazuna simultaneously, deflecting Zabuza's sword strike. Kakashi glanced sideways at Naruto with an approving eye. '_Sometimes I forget how good this kid is..._'

Sakura found herself shaking under the killing intent radiating from Zabuza. '_This is a Jounin? I'm... dead, we're all gonna die..._' A sick weight settled in her stomach. Seeing his teammate shaking like a leaf, Sasuke scoffed. "Sakura, it's him against us... we'll be fine." Sasuke said slowly. By the way his jaw tightened he obviously wasn't enjoying the 'team player' role. Sakura smiled slightly. "Tha-"

**_CRUNCH_**

Sakura was quickly cut off as she was hit in the face with the flat of Zabuza's large sword, launching her into the forest. "Tch. The battlefield is no time for _talking_." Zabuza growled. "You're damn right!" Kakashi appeared behind Zabuza holding a kunai to his neck. "Sasuke go check on Sakura, I've got it all covered over here!" Kakashi yelled. Sasuke nodded with wide eyes and dashed off into the forest.

Zabuza craned his neck to look at Kakashi. "Do you?"

* * *

**AN: Cliffhanger, woot! Does that count as a cliffhanger? I dunno, so I haven't updated in a month, that seems to be a trend. I just want to say again that, I'm never going to abandon any stories! So if I haven't updated in ages, don't worry, I will eventually. I dropped out of school (not for good, just for this year) so I should have a little more time now. Power: Part II/II will be out very shortly, promise! Until next time,  
**

**Ja!**


	4. Power Part II of II

**AN: Aiming for more words this chapter. I dunno why, but I'm just really prone to writing short chapters. It's not laziness or unwillingness or anything of the like, I just am not good at writing long chapters. But! I'm gonna try to go up in length every chapter until I'm pumping out 10K words a chapter :)! Also, I'm going to begin writing Dexter fanfics and Last of Us fanfics, both long and short. Just a bit of a warning though, I like Dex/Deb (or debster as some people call it) pairing in Dexter and Joel/Ellie (I've heard it called jelly but I'm not callin' it that haha) pairing in Last of Us. So if you dislike those pairings, don't read my Dexter or Last of Us fanfics. But lemme know in the comments, whether or not you guys like the idea of them. I'm kind of excited to write something other than just Naruto fanfics, but yea, let me know whatcha think. On an absolutely unrelated note, I just wanna say that I probably will not be writing out the names of techniques. I don't know most of their names off the top of my head (obviously) and chapters will take longer to write if I'm looking up a jutsu every five minutes. That's probably enough rambling, and most of it didn't even have anything to do with this story... Well, that's all for now,  
**

**Ja ne!**

**Review(s):**

**Grenos: Haha, thanks! Glad to see you're still liking the story :).**

**Dialogue:**

"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

_**This is reversed in furasshubakku...**_

_"I'd promise, but... we all know that's just bullshit."_

**On with the story,**

* * *

**Chapter Four: **_Power: Part II/II  
_

"Shit." Kakashi cursed as the Zabuza in front of him splashed into water. Quickly spinning around, Kakashi barely managed to block Zabuza's sword with a kunai. The force of the strike pushed Kakashi out onto the lake where he rapidly began to form hand signs. A torrent of water rose up from the lake and rushed at Zabuza in the form of a dragon. Kakashi didn't see Zabuza smirk as the water collided with him. After the water died down Kakashi looked around for Zabuza. '_Where did-_' Kakashi's eyes widened as a pair of hands grabbed his ankles and harshly pulled him into the water. Kakashi sprang to his feet and furrowed his brow in irritation as he eyed Zabuza. He was stuck in a spherical prison of water, and eying Zabuza with his Sharingan, Kakashi could tell a clone of Zabuza was maintaining the prison. Flicking his eyes to the shore, Kakashi's eyes widened and a heavy feeling settled in his gut. '_God, no... please..._' Naruto was standing on the shore, eyes shifting between his sensei and the thing between him and his sensei. _Zabuza_. Naruto was good, but Zabuza was an A- ranked nin. Kakashi knew that Naruto stood almost no chance in a one on one fight with him. Zabuza gave a wide grin, showing off jagged teeth, and his eyes widened in blood lust. "Let's see if Kakashi's faith in you is misplaced!"

Naruto flooded the area with clones as Zabuza charged him. He never took his eyes off of Naruto as he sprinted, slicing clones whether they were illusory or not. Naruto easily ducked under a wide horizontal swing and lashed out with a kunai. Grinning as he allowed the kunai to bite into his ribs, Zabuza batted Naruto away with a the flat of his sword. "You're sub-par at best... running around, pretending to be a ninja. I'll show you a true ninja!" In a burst of speed he was behind Naruto, delivering a quick kick to his back. Naruto's eyes widened as he tumbled across the ground. '_He was... playing with me before... I can't win..._' Zabuza was going to kill Naruto, but that didn't matter. It was what Zabuza would do to Naruto's team afterword that mad Naruto's jaw tighten. Naruto flipped onto his feet and flicked his eyes left and right. The blow had broken his concentration, dispelling all of his clones. Zabuza grinned as Naruto's dead eyes bored into him intensely. Flicking a kunai into his right hand, Naruto created a clone in front of him. What he did next almost gave Kakashi some hope that Naruto might win. _Fool's hope_. Naruto substituted Zabuza with his clone, his kunai burying itself in Zabuza's stomach a split second later.

Blood dripped down Zabuza's chin as he spoke. "That's damn impressive, but not nearly good enough!" Zabuza kicked Naruto away and took a large, diagonal swipe at his chest. Jumping back, Naruto only just managed to avoid being cleaved in half. Naruto felt the familiar sensation of blood rising up his throat as his back slammed into the ground roughly. He rolled onto his front and pushed himself up as Zabuza chuckled behind him. "Maybe I'm selling you short, kid..." Naruto glanced at the demon between him and the lake. He took in a large breath, revealing his sharp canines, before blowing a large gust of wind in front of him, causing leaves to rise from the ground and drift in the air. Unsurprisingly, Zabuza was utterly unaffected. "Was that your best?!" Zabuza yelled insanely. He was quite enjoying this. Naruto concentrated, ignoring the pool of blood at his feet. Zabuza grunted as he was tackled from his left, sending him flying into a tree. '_Smart...' _Naruto had substituted with a leaf to get to a blind spot. Unlike shunshin, substitution is difficult to detect, due to the small amount of chakra it uses. Naruto created two Kage Bunshin, which sprinted at the Mizu Bunshin that was holding Kakashi captive. Moments later, he heard a splash of water, signifying that Kakashi was free. Snapping his head back to Zabuza as he heard Kakashi sprinting towards him, Naruto threw up his hands to catch an overhead sword strike. The warm feeling of blood pooling in his palms sent shivers down Naruto's spine. He was fascinated as the blood trailed down his forearms. Zabuza kicked Naruto to distance himself a bit before smashing the flat of his blade into Naruto's skull, launching him across the shoreline. Kakashi was stopped short of burying his kunai in Zabuza's neck when two senbon suddenly did the job for him. A figure appeared directly afterward, ducking next to Zabuza's body.

"Thank yo-" Kakashi cut the person off by dashing away. He saw a hunter nin mask and that's all he needed to know, he needed to see if Naruto was okay. Flickering into existence next to Naruto's body, Kakashi paled. Naruto was in a pool of blood and had a large, diagonal cut across his torso. The thing that worried Kakashi was that Naruto was awake. His eyes were open, blankly staring into the sky. His hands were toying with his necklace. Most of all, his lips were set in a slight frown. Kakashi hefted Naruto up into a bridal style carry, ignoring the way his clothes became drenched with blood. Though somewhere, in the back of his mind, he felt sick that his sensei's son was coloring him red. Kakashi worriedly glanced at Naruto. He was mumbling something to himself...

Kakashi walked back into the clearing to find Sasuke returning with a newly awoken Sakura and a slightly shaken Tazuna. The three of them blanched when they noticed Naruto's condition. If it weren't for his slightly moving lips, they'd have thought he was a corpse. "Lead the way." Kakashi mumbled to Tazuna. "R-right... I'll take you to my daughters home. It's not far." Tazuna replied, unnerved by the sight of such a brutally injured child. "Is he gonna be alright, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked in a shaky voice as she limped over to him. She was probably out of commission for a while... "Yea..." Sakura didn't believe Kakashi's answer and neither did he. But they were both worried for completely different reasons...

* * *

_Tsunami's house - 15 minutes later..._

Sasuke eyed Naruto as he sat on his tatami mat. Naruto had been cleaned up by Tsunami and was only wearing a pair of Anbu pants Kakashi had had handy. His upper body was covered by diagonal bandages, and his hands were also wrapped up. From what Kakashi had told everyone, Naruto had held his own against Zabuza, but only long enough to free Kakashi. Sasuke was a very prideful person, how could he not be. He was dubbed the last of the Uchiha, and being an Uchiha is something to be proud of in and of itself. But he was not ignorant. Though reluctant to admit it, he knew he couldn't have lasted half as long against Zabuza. Sasuke was more skilled than Naruto, but skill doesn't directly equate to power. Men are felled by beasts constantly. That's what Naruto was; a beast, a monster. He was much stronger than Sasuke, and that strength earned him grudging respect from Sasuke. But Sasuke didn't know just how close he was, calling Naruto a Monster...

Sasuke deep train of thought was derailed as the sliding door of the room opened to reveal Kakashi. "Tsunami has prepared dinner, if you're hungry." Kakashi said putting away Icha Icha. Sasuke made a 'hn' noise as he got up and strode past Kakashi. Kakashi's eyebrow twitched as he glanced at Sasuke's retreating back. Kakashi's eyes briefly flicked to Naruto before he followed Sasuke down the stairs and to the table where everyone else was seated. Tsunami looked away from her conversation with Sakura as Kakashi sat down. "Isn't Naruto-san going to eat?" She questioned in slight worry. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at her. "Naruto-kun is sleeping..." Kakashi said obviously. Tsunami's eyes flicked upstairs as she got up from her seat. "I'll go see if I can get him up." She said quietly. "Oookay, you uh... you do that..." Kakashi trailed off as Tsunami was already gone. He glanced to his left as he heard Tazuna trying to drown out his laughter by downing his saki. Sasuke was smirking in slight amusement. Starting to catch on, Kakashi grinned slightly and looked over to his right at Sakura, who was scowling. "Who does she think... probably just wants alone time... 's mine... out of her league..." Sakura was mumbling to herself as she glared hard at the table. Unable to hold it, Tazuna barked out a loud round of laughter. Sasuke's smirk widened considerably and Kakashi was full-on eye-smiling. Sakura huffed and began to eat her food.

* * *

_In the spare room..._

"Naruto-san... Naruto-san..." Tsunami murmured as she shook Naruto gently. He cracked an eye open, making her blush. They were a beautiful, deep blue. "I made... supper, if you want." Naruto's other eye opened and he glanced at his stomach just as it gurgled. "Okay..." He said slowly. Tsunami giggled and gently pulled Naruto up. He stumbled forward a bit, leaning on her as her arms wrapped around him for support. It was sort of an impromptu hug. Naruto felt something odd in his chest, like a small rustling. The embrace felt... nice. He slowly brought his hands up to Tsunami's back in an awkward hug. She pulled him tighter against her. "It's good to see that you're okay." She smiled beautifully over his shoulder. Naruto slightly backed up and gave Tsunami an intense stare, making her blush as his eyes searched hers for a long moment. "Thank you." Naruto said slowly. Without another word he walked out of the room and down into the kitchen. Tsunami giggled to herself as she followed him out after a moment. Naruto was obviously a very odd kid, but there was just something about him that she liked. '_Not to mention he's incredibly adorable..._'

* * *

_The next day..._

Sasuke sighed in frustration as he looked at his female teammate. She stood atop her tree, smiling and giggling as she watched Naruto performing multiple chakra control techniques at once. Naruto had already known how to 'tree walk' and Sakura had only taken five minutes to get the hang of it. For whatever reason, Sasuke couldn't get higher than ten feet before he fell of or exploded off.

"Sakura, walk up and down the tree. Whenever you use your chakra, you build your maximum reserves. You obviously have excellent control, but low capacity. Chakra control exercises can be a good way to fix that." Kakashi called up to Sakura. With an enthusiastic nod, she began trekking up and down. Kakashi looked over at Sasuke, who exploded off of his tree, and grinned. For all its downs, being a sensei had its ups... and this was one of them...

* * *

_Later..._

Naruto blinked slowly, unafraid of the sinister red eyes that glared back at him. "**Are you not afraid... ningen?**" Kyuubi asked, already knowing the answer full well. Naruto shook his head and took a few step forwards as he opened his mouth to speak. "I need... power." The large, red eyes closed and opened again, smaller this time. A tall woman of a curvy stature emerged from the darkness and grinned wickedly with her ruby lips. "**And what oh what, could a _ningen _possibly have to offer... in** **return.**" Naruto's eyes flicked up to the paper marked seal, and Kyuubi's excitement showed in its tails as they slowly swayed behind it.

* * *

Naruto was abruptly torn from his mindscape, awakening to a pretty girl nudging him slightly. "What are you doing sleeping out here? You'll catch a cold." Naruto looked blankly into her eyes with his dead ones. "Meditating, not sleeping." He droned. She had the decency to look sheepish as she stood back up. "Ah well, sorry about that. My name's Haku. I'm out here gathering herbs for a friend." Haku said friendly enough. Naruto flickered to his feet, making Haku tense slightly. '_This is the boy Zabuza warned about... but he is supposed to be severely injured._' Haku took note of the large bandage across Naruto's chest. It was stained slightly red. Naruto eyed the basket that Haku was holding as he cracked his back. "What does your friend need poison for?" He said blandly, glancing up to Haku's face. Haku started to sweat a bit. '_I didn't think he'd know what these were..._' "Ah, ya know..." Haku said quietly, "...stuff." Naruto nodded and began walking away. "Wait," Haku called after him, "what's your name?" "Uzumaki Naruto." He replied, still walking.

* * *

_The next morning...  
_

Naruto woke up to a quiet house. Slipping his sandals on and slinking downstairs he paused when he saw two bandits holding onto Inari and Tsunami.

"Please, take me instead! Don't hurt him!" Tsunami cried as the bandits debated about who to kill. "Okay. You're mother really cares kid... too bad you ain't gonna see her ag-" The bandit was suddenly cut off. And so was his head. The other bandit whirled around, brandishing his sword. Before he could yelp in surprise a kunai was buried into the base of his skull. Naruto watched the blood drip from his kunai for a few moments before Tsunami's voice broke him out of his stupor. "Thank you Naruto! Thank you so much." She cried, clinging on to Inari. Naruto ignored her. "Where's my team?" Naruto asked dully. "On the bridge, why?" He once again ignored her as he dashed out the door towards the bridge.

* * *

**AN: Wooh, I feel good about that chapter! Was it good? Whaddya think? Flames? Suggestions? All reviews welcome, so review! It's 2:05 fuckin' am, I'm about done, so for now  
**

**Ja!**


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